Nightly curfew in Italy's 'yellow' covid-19 zones moves to midnight as the nation's vaccination campaign hits record levels.

Italy's curfew will be pushed back to midnight from 7 June in a further step towards scrapping the measure entirely in two weeks' time.

The curfew, now from midnight until 05.00, applies to Italy's 'yellow' zones under the country's colour-coded system of coronavirus restrictions.

Most of Italy is currently in the lower-risk 'yellow' zone however a growing number of regions are moving into the lowest-risk 'white' zone category where the curfew does not apply.

To be classified as a white zone, a region must have registered fewer than 50 covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for three consecutive weeks.

• Italy moves regions into covid-19 'white zones'

The 'white' regions from 7 June are: Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Molise, Sardinia, Umbria and Veneto.

The rest of the country remains 'yellow' however, based on the improving covid-19 data, the following regions could turn 'white' on 14 June: Emilia Romagna, Lazio (Rome), Lombardia (Milan), Piemonte, Puglia and the province of Trento.

• Covid-19 news updates from Italy

If the trend continues to improve, the regions of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Marche, Sicily, Tuscany and the autonomous province of Bolzano could become white zones by 21 June, the day Italy's curfew is lifted.

The only yellow zone left at that point would be Valle d'Aosta which could become 'white' on 28 June.

The only restrictions that apply in white zones relate to social distancing and the wearing of masks indoors and in crowded outdoor places.

Italy's vaccination programme

The easing of the curfew coincides with a record number of anti-covid vaccinations in Italy this weekend, with around 1.2 million jabs administered over the 48 hours between Friday and Saturday.

Italy's move to ramp up its vaccination programme comes as the Italian drug regulator (AIFA) recently approved the Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15-year olds.

• Italy approves Pfizer covid-19 vaccine for 12 to 15-year olds

To date Italy has administered more than 38 million doses of covid vaccines, with 13 million people completing their vaccination cycle as of 6 June.

For official information relating to the covid-19 situation in Italy - in English - see the health ministry website. Photo credit: Gennaro Leonardi Photos / Shutterstock.com.